Design Meets Tech: Discovering How Incase Built Around Apple

There have been plenty of great examples of two brands prospering together in recent years. In 2012, Red Bull and GoPro teamed up to achieve Felix Baumgartner’s 24-mile high jump from the edge of space, setting three world records. More recently in the fashion world, Fenty and Puma made the most of Rihanna’s superstar status to create some of the most in demand collections of 2017.

Brands partnering to achieve success is exciting, but all too often fleeting. One relationship that might not immediately spring to mind however, has been going strong for 20 years – Incase and Apple. A brand driven by a strong sense of design, Incase has been making backpacks, camera bags, travel carry-on luggage, sleeves and cases designed specifically for Apple products since 1997 – ten years before the release of the first iPhone.

Made to meet the demands of today’s creatives, the brand centres their production on those who use the Apple platform to express their creativity, ensuring each of their designs meet the specifics of the world-renowned Californian tech giant’s products.

The City Compact Backpack for instance, was made to store essentials for today’s frequently travelling professionals, but also includes a faux fur-lined notebook compartment with 360 degree padding, made specifically to protect the 15″ MacBook Pro. Similarly, the larger EO Travel Backpack, designed for overnight stays, was made to store the 17″ MacBook.

It’s easy to assume that building a business specifically to cater to users of one of the world’s largest, most recognisable brands would therefore lead to the two becoming inexorably linked, but Incase have achieved an admirable feat in building their own identity, resulting in an interesting brand image of their own.

Recent ventures into the growing camera and luggage markets were likely responsible for a large part of this, with releases such as the NoviConnected 4 Wheel Hubless Travel Roller providing performance in its own right, while ensuring the brand’s roots aren’t forgotten in the form of a built-in battery bank for device charging on the go, designed for use with the MacBook’s USB-C charger.

Collaborations with some of today’s most forward-thinking brands has ensured Incase stays up to date with the culture, from streetwear giants Stüssy for a military-inspired bag collection to French fashion house A.P.C. for a Japanese denim sleeve range, and even paying tribute to pop art legend Andy Warhol in an iPhone case release.

A brand with a clear understanding of how design plays in integral role in the creation of a product, Incase made the most of Apple’s ludicrous levels of success to form the base of their business, before creating their own image for a new generation of creatives – a strong collaboration indeed.